KANSAS CITY, Mo. (Interstat) -- Bo Naylor hit a three-run home run in the seventh inning and Kyle Manzardo delivered a two-run double in the first to lead the Cleveland Guardians to an 8-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Thursday afternoon at Kauffman Stadium.

The Guardians, who improved to 20-19 with their second straight win in the four-game series, jumped on Royals starter Seth Lugo early. Steven Kwan led off the game with a single to center, Chase DeLauter flied out, then Jose Ramirez singled to put runners at the corners. Manzardo followed with a sharp double to center field that scored both runners, and Daniel Schneemann singled to right to bring home Manzardo. Travis Bazzana added another single before Lugo struck out Brayan Rocchio and Bo Naylor to end the inning with Cleveland ahead 3-0.

Cleveland extended its lead in the third inning. Schneemann walked, and after a strikeout and a single by Rocchio, Naylor flied out to center, moving Schneemann to third. Petey Halpin then singled to center, scoring Schneemann for a 4-0 lead.

The Royals broke through in the fifth inning against Guardians starter Slade Cecconi. Michael Massey doubled to right and moved to third on a groundout. Maikel Garcia singled to right to bring home Massey, cutting the deficit to 4-1.

Cleveland answered in the sixth. Halpin walked, Kwan grounded out to first, and Chase DeLauter doubled sharply to center. But Jose Ramirez struck out and Manzardo grounded out, leaving the score at 4-1.

Kansas City got another run in the bottom of the sixth. Carter Jensen singled, Jac Caglianone singled, and Isaac Collins walked to load the bases. Nick Loftin hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Jensen. After a walk to Lane Thomas reloaded the bases, Maikel Garcia flied out to end the inning, with Cleveland still leading 4-2.

The pivotal moment came in the seventh inning. After Schneemann grounded out, Bazzana walked and Rocchio walked. Naylor then crushed a 1-1 pitch from Seth Lugo over the right-field wall for his second home run of the season, scoring Bazzana and Rocchio to make it 7-2. Halpin flied out, Kwan walked, and DeLauter grounded out to end the inning, but Cleveland had pushed its lead to 8-2.

Kansas City answered immediately in the bottom of the seventh. Bobby Witt Jr. led off with a solo home run to right-center, his fourth of the season. Vinnie Pasquantino followed with another solo shot to right-center, his fifth, cutting the lead to 8-4. Salvador Perez lined out sharply, Carter Jensen flied out, and Jac Caglianone struck out on a foul tip to end the threat.

The Royals crept closer in the eighth. Isaac Collins singled, Nick Loftin doubled to left, and Lane Thomas hit a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Collins to make it 8-5. Maikel Garcia flied out, and Witt singled to put runners at the corners, but Pasquantino struck out swinging to end the inning.

Cade Smith came on for the ninth and retired the Royals in order, striking out Salvador Perez and Carter Jensen and getting Jac Caglianone to fly out to right to earn his 11th save of the season.

Cecconi, the winning pitcher, went 5 1/3 innings, allowing six hits and two earned runs while striking out three. His record improved to 2-4. Lugo took the loss, falling to 1-2, after allowing eight hits and eight runs over 6 2/3 innings. Erik Sabrowski recorded one out and a strikeout in relief for Cleveland. Daniel Lynch IV worked a scoreless inning with two strikeouts for Kansas City.

Witt Jr. led all hitters, going 4 for 4 with a home run and an RBI. Pasquantino homered and had an RBI. Naylor finished 2 for 5 with a homer and three RBIs. Manzardo was 1 for 5 with two RBIs. Halpin recorded his first career RBI with a third-inning single.

The attendance was 24,892, and the game lasted 3 hours, 4 minutes.

Cleveland won the final two games of the four-game set, splitting the series after losing the first two. The Guardians return home to face the Minnesota Twins in a three-game series beginning Friday. Kansas City hosts the Detroit Tigers for a three-game series starting Friday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Kansas City Royals 7, Cleveland Guardians 3. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Kansas City with a 51.20 percent probability to win. Kansas City had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total score of 13 went under the over/under line of 9.